Josh Corman and Jericho Discuss Building a Better Anonymous

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Josh Corman and Attrition.org's Jericho took some time out at BSidesLV to discuss their article series titled "Building a Better Anonymous" which examined the rogue movement's pros and cons, successes and failure, the group's caricature in the media, and the movement's future.

The introduction to the series states that "when we say 'building a better Anonymous', we seek to explore the ideas of making such a group truly better. That means better for all parties involved; the group, end users, citizens and law enforcement. 'Better' does not mean more criminal acts in the name of the greater good, it means a more efficient organization that can achieve the same (or better) results with less collateral damage. We envision a group with better defined goals, more accountability, a healthy dose of humor and the legendary resolve of the sabertooth squirrel. Of course, the chaotic nature of a group such as Anonymous means that any hopes of improvement will likely come in the form of small numbers of members guiding the rest toward these goals."

Jericho has been poking about the hacker/security scene for over 19 years (for real), building valuable skills such as skepticism and anger management. As a hacker-turned-security researcher, he has a great perspective to offer unsolicited opinion on just about any security topic. A long-time advocate of advancing the field, sometimes by any means necessary, he thinks the idea of 'forward thinking' is quaint; we're supposed to be thinking that way all the time. No degree, no certifications, just the willingness to say things many in this dismal industry are thinking but unwilling to say themselves. He remains a champion of security industry integrity and small misunderstood creatures.

Joshua Corman has more than a decade of experience with security and networking software. Corman's research cuts across sectors to the core security challenges plaguing the IT industry, and helps to drive evolutionary strategies toward emerging technologies and shifting economics. His research and education efforts won him the title of Top Influencer of IT by NetworkWold magazine in 2009. Corman is a candid and highly-coveted speaker with engagements at leading industry events such as RSA, DEFCON, Interop, ISACA, and SANS. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of his current or former employers, or his associates.